


Daughters & Stepfathers

by dannihowell (iguessicantry)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Family Secrets, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 15:17:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7623769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iguessicantry/pseuds/dannihowell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil is surprised one day when a young girl tells him, “I’m your daughter.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daughters & Stepfathers

“I’m your daughter.”

Phil blinked twice at the girl stood before him. At first, he thought she was a fan that had somehow found their address and had the audacity to actually ring the bell. Being a YouTuber for more than fifteen years that had meant that it happened twice before. A strongly worded text post handled the situation nicely along with a few restraining orders.

The girl in front of was so typical now that he really looked at her. She wore some uniform that he’d never seen before or never really made the effort to notice if she went to a school in the area. Her hair was a straight strawberry blonde and her eyes bluish grey. There was nothing special about her he thought, except for what she was saying.

“What?”

“My name is Chris Callahan, well Christina… My mother’s name _was_ Andrea Callahan before she got married. Does that mean anything to you?”

Callahan sounded familiar. Phil’s mouth went dry because he knew exactly what Callahan meant. Andrea Callahan, specifically, meant a drunken night with a friend at Uni who he never saw again after graduation.

“Hello?” she said, looking at him curiously.

Phil shook his head then regained composure. “Yeah. I knew Andrea. Um… come in.”

“I can’t. Mum is coming to pick me up at school so I have to get back, before the last bell. I just wanted to see you.” She laughed nervously. “I always wondered about you. Just found out your name though.”

“How’d you find me?”

“I found a letter my mum wrote,” she said, holding up the envelope with the address in a dark ink. “It said you were my dad.”

If Dan hadn’t come in just then, Phil would have let this child leave without any way of contacting her or her mother. Dan came in yawning, having just woken up mid-afternoon. He didn’t notice that Phil was, in fact, speaking to someone until he rested his chin on Phil’s shoulder and saw a preteen staring back at him. His eyes opened wide. Flashbacks of creepy stalkers ran through his mind.

“Hi,” he said awkwardly, as only Dan could.

Chris waved shyly. “Hello.”

“This is Chris, Dan.”

“Oh?” Dan’s eyes screamed at him to explain why there was a girl at their door. Phil nodded and said, “Yes, she says she’s my daughter.”

The silence that followed bred awkwardness among the three of them. Chris tugged at the sleeves of her blue jumper as Dan stood there awestruck and Phil stared at his shoes.

“Is this even possible?” Dan finally chocked out. “For _you_ to have a child?!”

“Hey!” Phil blurted out at the implication Dan made. “Yes, it’s possible!”

Dan rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I meant. When was the last time you…?” Dan gestured towards the girl. “The last time… you had… relations with a lady?”

“About twelve or thirteen years. Last year of Uni.”

Dan folded his arms and turned to the girl. “And how old are you?”

“Eleven. Well, I’ll be twelve in a month.”

“That’s bloody perfect, isn’t it?” Dan laughed. He spun in a circle and made gestures of confusion or surprise to the air. Phil grabbed his phone from the kitchen table not too far away.

“I need to know how to contact your mother,” he said softly. “We have a lot to talk about.” He was starting to see himself in the girl as the moments passed. The child was mostly Andrea, from what he could remember about his old classmate. But Chris had his mouth and maybe even his eyes.

Her body suddenly went pensive. “No. I can’t tell you. I just wanted to see you. That’s it! We don’t want anything.”

“That’s not why I’m–,”

“They’ll kill me if they find out!”

The girl turned on her heel to flee. Phil ran after her but she was faster and he couldn’t go very far in his pajamas and t-shirt, not to mention he wasn’t wearing shoes. When he returned, Dan was waiting with a cup of coffee and a look of interest.

“Thanks,” Phil told him, sitting down at the table.

Dan tilted his head and tapped his fingers as he waited. Phil knew his fiancé too well.

“Her named is Andrea and we were close in Uni. There was a one-night thing we had. After graduation, she refused to talk to me. I thought she hated me or something… I didn’t think it was anything like—”

“—Chris?” Dan asked rhetorically. “Do you really think she’s yours?”

Phil nodded. “I really do.”

“So what are we going to do?”

Phil hesitated. They had discussed children before but it was always hypothetical. They always used words like ‘What if?’ when it came to growing their family. As they were at that moment, Dan and Phil were happy. They could hop on a jet and fly off without a second thought. Now, he had to think of his daughter. Really, he needed to find her mother and ask why she decided to keep Chris a secret in the first place. One thing Phil _didn’t_ notice was that Dan had said, ‘We.’

“I need to find Andrea.”

“They obviously live nearby. Hmm… She was wearing that uniform. I recognize it. What school is that? It’s really posh… You know the one.”

“Wait. Dan, you’re going to help me with this?”

“Of course I am!” Dan exclaimed. “Phil, this is happening to the both of us. We’re in this together, okay?”  
Phil smiled and leaned over the table to kiss Dan on the lips.

Dan pulled away and stood up to grab his laptop and they started a search for schools in the area with blue jumpers and grey bottoms as their uniforms. All the schools within a kilometer came up on the map of the surrounding area. The Cresthaven School was the only school with the same uniform as the one Chris wore.

“Get dressed. We’re going down there,” Dan announced.

“Are you serious? We can’t just go to a school and look around. Do you know how creepy we’ll look?”

Dan sighed, “We need to find a way to find Andrea. She’s obviously trying to hide Chris from you. She’s your daughter too, Phil.”

“She said her mother was coming to pick her up. If I can find Andrea, maybe I can confront her about all this.”

“Exactly. Get dressed.”

—–

They arrived just as the bell rung. Teenagers filtered out of the school’s double doors in a sea of blue. Dan and Phil watched the door to see if Chris would come out. After a few minutes, she did so Phil watched as she walked over to a small silver sedan and promptly got in. The car didn’t move right away as the traffic streaming out of the school’s driveway hindered its movement. Dan was already twenty feet away. heading towards it, by the time Phil decided to go up to the car.

Phil knocked on the window to see Chris’s eyes widen with surprise, then fear. She looked away and seemed to speak to the driver, who Phil hadn’t seen yet. A woman reached over Chris to peer up at him. Her face immediately spoke of a surprise that turned into anger. She opened the door and stepped out.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I… We need to talk,” Phil said finally.

“No, we don’t. I need to take my daughter home and you need to leave us alone.”

“Andrea–,”

“No. Leave us alone or I’ll call the police.”

Phil stepped forward, Dan following close behind. “Chris came to my flat. She wants me to be in her life and I want to be in hers.”

“She what?” Andrea uttered softly. Chris hid behind her knees which she had brought up to her chest.

“Is she really mine?” Phil asked gesturing to the girl.

Andrea sighed and said, “No. She’s mine and my husband’s. She can see you when she’s old enough to make that decision for herself. For now, I am her mother and I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“What did he do?” Dan jumped in. He hated when other people treated Phil as if he were a criminal, knowing that Phil never could be. He was much too kind and sweet-natured. “What has Phil done that makes you think you can treat him this way?“

“Who are you?” she snapped at him.

“His fiancé.”

“Oh!” she said with eyebrows raised. “Well, _fiancé_ , when I called him, alone and pregnant, his parents said he didn’t want the baby… _He_ couldn’t deal with me and my problems. _He_ couldn’t be a father at such a young age.”

Phil shook his head and stepped forward. “I never knew. No one told me about you. I tried to contact you and you wouldn’t talk to me.”

“Because I was done with you. I had plans to make,” she quarreled. “And a baby to raise. Your family was right anyway. You were too young. I didn’t need two kids to worry about. It all worked out for the best. I found a husband and did what I had to do. It’s over between us so leave us alone.”

Andrea jumped back into the driver’s seat and slammed the door. The traffic had cleared and she sped off, taking her and Phil’s daughter with her.

—–

Phil couldn’t believe that his own mother kept this a secret for so long. She didn’t seem to have any remorse either.

“Phil, honey, you didn’t need that,” she said in that motherly tone that spoke of experience and wisdom. “A baby? Really? You still had to do your masters.”

“She’s my daughter. Mum, she even looks like me. How could you?”

“What do you want me to say? Your father and I thought we were doing the right thing. Look how successful you are now and all the opportunities you were able to take advantage of. We’re just sorry you had to find out this way.”

“You know she’s your grandchild too, your only one.”

“We did what we thought was right–”

“I’ll have to call you back later,” Phil interrupted, not wanting to hear the same speech again. Hanging up, he let Dan hug him from behind. “Big day,” he joked with a tired noise erupting from his throat.

“What’s your next step?” Dan asked him softly.

“I don’t know, babe. Tell me what to do please.”

Dan smiled into his shoulder and kissed the nape of his neck. He led him to the sofa and sat him down, letting Phil lay his head on his chest. “You’re a dad. I can’t believe it,” Dan began.

“She’s already so big, Dan. I missed so much.”

“Yeah, like what?”

“You know… Her first words, her first day of school, Christmases… I don’t know anything about her. I wonder if she’s a fan. She’s the right age. I wonder if she has a massive crush on you. Didn’t seem to know anything about us though.”

Dan chuckled as he ran his fingers through Phil’s hair. “I wonder if her mum will let you get to know her.”

“Dan?”

“Yeah?”

“If I pursue this, you’re going to be her stepfather in a way, especially after the wedding. Are you sure you want this? It’s okay if you don’t. It’s not like you had a one night stand and–,”

“Phil, shut up. I told you earlier. We’re in this together.”

Phil breathed a sigh of relief and leaned up to place a kiss on Dan’s lips as the other man’s hands held him in place. If Dan was truly honest, the prospect of being a father made him a little bit excited if not nauseous. Sure, he’d always envisioned adopting a little boy or girl but this isn’t that different. He would still be doing it with Phil, his rock.

*****

Chris was silent on the way home, as was Andrea. Once the car stopped outside of their townhouse, Andrea finally acknowledged what her daughter had done.

"After everything we’ve done for you, Christina! Everything I sacrificed for you. Am I not enough for you? Is your father not enough for you? You live in this massive house, you get everything you would ever need or want, and you attend the finest schools. Is that not enough that you had to go searching for _him_?”

“That’s not why I–,”

“We will not talk about this ever again. You will not go to Phil’s flat ever again. And you will not tell your father about this.”

Chris stayed silent, twisting her fingers furtively.

“Is that clear?!” Andrea shouted at the girl, grabbing her arm.

“Yes, mum,” she replied quietly, squeezing her eyes shut, expecting to be struck across the face.

“Get inside.”

Once Andrea had let go of her daughter’s arm, Chris grabbed her bag and ran into the house to stay out of her parents’ way. Somehow, someway, her stepfather would find out what she did and Chris would try to avoid him for as long as possible.

Later that night at dinner, Chris ate with her head down as Andrea and her stepfather, Jeff, talked about their days. She would soon be able to get away from them both and to the relative safety of her room.

“I got a call today,” he said. “Christina missed two classes today.” The sound of Chris’ fork hitting the plate resounded throughout the room. Andrea cleared her throat but said nothing. “Where were you?”

“Nowhere. I went to the washroom when the teacher was taking roll.”

“You’re lying and you know how I feel about lying.”

The residual bruises on her abdomen from the last time Chris did something wrong reminded her.

“Where were you?”

Chris looked at her mother who offered no support by raising her forkful of salad to her lips. Andrea’s eyes said, ‘Don’t be stupid.’

“I went to go find my father. My real one,” Chris finally answered.

“Christina, I am your father!“ he bellowed. "I certainly pay for everything that warrants that title. How did you even know where he was?”

Andrea suddenly gave her full attention and, at last, stood in her child’s defense. “She found my old diary and looked him up online. He’s one of those people who makes videos. He’s easy to research, dear.” Chris watched her parents’ expression with anticipation. This could go one of two ways. Jeff could turn on her mother or turn on Chris. It was a matter of whose story he would believe and what facts he would overlook.

“Is that how you found him, Chrissy?” Jeff asked sweetly. Chris hated that nickname almost as much as everything else Jeff did to her. She gave him no answer and let her mother do the talking.

Soon he was shouting at them both. He had Andrea clutched tight in his grasp, twisting her arm around to the point where she was in tears. He asked why she still had the diary and how could she let Chris find it. He made it clear that he was the only father Chris needed, after all, he paid for every luxury, from her high-quality education to the upscale neighborhood where they lived. Conveniently, the neighbors never heard the screaming or the shouting.

Soon, Jeff had Andrea pinned down on the ground. Her lip and nose appeared to be bleeding profusely from his fist. Chris wanted to call the police but every time she wanted to, her mother begged her to stop. Her mother made it profoundly clear that they couldn’t have the life she’d always wanted without Jeff taking care of them. There was nothing Chris could do but wait for Jeff to tire himself out. She would wait it out upstairs in her closet with her hands glued to her ears. Chris would hear everything later though. She often dreamt moments like these. The words always seeped in.

*****

Phil had made a few decisions. No matter what, since Chris was half his, he was going to know her and he had a lot of time to make up for. He’d gotten up and dressed before Dan even stirred. He grabbed the note he’d typed out the night before and set off down the road to Chris’ school.

School had not started yet so students were still being dropped off or walking up to the building. Phil spotted the same silver sedan and waited to see if it was Chris and Andrea. A girl with long hair like Chris’ came out and waved goodbye to the driver. Once the car drove off, Phil called out to her, “Chris!”

The girl turned towards him and swiftly spun back around, walking quickly onto the campus.

“Chris! Please stop!”

Phil ran and caught up with her. “I just wanted to give you this note with my contacts,” he wheezed, trying to catch his breath. She stopped in her tracks and turned to him, taking the note he handed to her.

“I can’t see you ever again. He’ll find out,” Chris told him with a worried expression, seemingly looking everywhere except at Phil.

“What are you talking about?”

“My stepfather. If he knows I’m talking to you… You don’t know what he’ll do. Just leave me alone, okay?”

Phil furrowed his brow, reading between the lines very easily. Chris had heavy bags underneath her eyes for lack of sleep, she couldn’t stop checking to see if someone was watching them, and she stood with arms folded into her body as if she was hungry or hurt. “Is everything okay?” he asked, ignoring her pleas.

“Phil,” she said quietly. “I shouldn’t have come to see you. We both got in trouble.”

“Both? Who else?”

“My mum. She took most of it but he still came after me. I don’t even know why I’m telling you. Just leave me alone. Just pretend I never came to see you.”

She started to move away so Phil followed her. “I can’t pretend. If there’s something going on at home and you want help, you have to tell me.”

“I—I can’t.” Chris stuttered.

“I can help you… and your mother. Are you hurt right now?” Phil asked, lowering his voice to save her any embarrassment she may have as well as maintain their privacy. Chris nodded and moved her arm away from her stomach. She winced and Phil could see the tears pooling in her eyes.

“Let me help,” Phil pleaded with her. “You can’t go to school like this.”

She looked at the school’s front doors and heard the bell ring for the first class.

“Come with me.”

“Okay.”

—–

Dan met them halfway with their car after Phil called him about what happened to Chris. As he drove to the hospital, Phil tried to get some more information out of Chris.

“What did he do?” he asked.

“Smacked me and kicked me.”

“How bad is it?”

She shrugged. Chris seemed distant, staring out of the window with a glaze over her eyes. When they arrived at Accident and Emergency, Chris was examined by a physician while Dan and Phil were left waiting in stiff blue chairs. Phil’s leg was shaking so Dan took his hand to calm him down by bringing Phil’s hand to his lips.

“I’ll kill him,” Phil announced suddenly.

“What?” Dan asked, surprised.

“That monster touched my daughter!”

“You just found out you even had a daughter. How can you be so…?”

“So... what? No one should beat a child, Dan.”

“I know. I know. I agree. It’s just surprising to see you so act this way. It’s different.”

“Well, I’ve never had my daughter come to me with bruises all over her body before.”

“She’ll get help now,” Dan said, trying to be optimistic, something he isn’t used to. “We won’t let anything happen to her.”

Phil nodded and leaned into Dan. “You’re right.”

A nurse soon interrupted them so they could Phil out the paperwork.

*****

Chris sat on the examination table as the nurse moved around the room.

“Now, love, I’m going to lift your jumper, okay?”

The girl nodded at the women did what she said. The nurse raised her eyes brows then made a few notes on the chart she carried in with her.

“Can you change into this gown for the full examination? Would that be alright?”

Chris truly didn’t care anymore. Her body ached and she hadn’t eaten. She nodded, so the nurse left her to change. A few minutes later, a female doctor entered the room and introduced herself. Chris hadn’t been paying much attention. The examination went quickly and when it was all done, the doctor asked Chris to get dressed.

“Luckily, nothing is broken, Christina. You do have a few old bruises that are still healing and the new ones will take some time too. But you will be okay. Now, I need you to tell me how you got them.”

Chris plainly said, “My dad.” Exhaustion was hindering her ability to lie.

“Your dad did all this?”

“Yes,” Chris nodded. “He really hurt my mum last night too. I don’t care if he kills me. I have to say something.”

“I’m going to alert the authorities and they’re going to come and talk to you, alright?”

Chris nodded confidently, feeling stronger already.

—–

Phil and Dan were still waiting for Chris to come out when two officers approached them.

“Which one of you is the father of Christina Callahan?”

Phil stood forward and before he knew it, he was in handcuffs and Dan was asking, “Why are you taking him?”

“The girl says her father’s been beating her.”

“Yes, her stepfather. She lives with him. Phil has only known her for a few days!” Dan defended.

The officers looked at him skeptically.

“Ask Chris if Phil is the one you’re looking for.”

One officer went back into the examination room and returned with Chris who immediately ran to Phil’s side. “Let him go,” she said. “Jeffery Bennington is my stepfather. He’s the one you need to arrest. Let Phil go. He hasn’t touched me.”

Phil was released and Dan came to his side for quick reassurance. One officer called in through his radio and he was gone almost as quickly as they came. The remaining officer remained to ask Dan and Phil questions concerning what they knew about Chris’ home life. Phil let her know that Chris only found him a few days ago and that he didn’t know he even had a daughter. The only thing Phil knew was that Chris was being abused. When Dan and Phil were both cleared, the officer told them they could take Chris home with them. She couldn’t return to her own house. Because Phil was her only legal or biological parent, he had the right to take her home. Chris had no one else. Her parents were both under arrest for child abuse and child endangerment.

Chris went crazy, screaming that it wasn’t her mother’s fault. Having not eaten all day, she started to feel weak and eventually settled down. Dan and Phil took her home.

—–

Once they returned to their flat, Chris seemed tired and Phil showed her to the guest room. In the living room, Dan was on the phone with his friend Louise, who he figured would know what to do as a mother.

“We’ll need things like clothes, you know? And any advice you could give us,” Dan said into the phone. Phil rubbed the nape of Dan’s back as he often did out of habit. As soon as Dan hung up, he placed a kiss on Phil’s forehead, knowing he would need the comfort.

“It’s going to be okay,” Dan said. “I promise.”

“Thanks, love, but it’s not me I’m worried about. It’s Chris. How is she going to feel after all is said and done? Her mum is in jail right now.”

The door to the guest room opened and Chris stepped forward, dressed in one of Dan’s old shirts and her school skirt.

“I’m hungry,” she stated simply.

“What would you like to have? We can order take away,” Dan said, giving her a smile. It was only a little awkward because it was Dan after all.

She shifted from one foot to the other and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Okay. Chinese good?”

“Yeah.”

Dan set about ordering their normal order that could be delivered in less than half an hour. Meanwhile, Phil and Chris avoided talking to each other in the awkward silence. Finally, she said, “You dye your hair black?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “You like it?”

She nodded and sat down on their sofa. “Looks cool.”

“Thanks. What made you ask that?”

“Mum has brown hair and mine is almost red. I always wondered where it came from.”

“Oh. Chris, I want you to know something,” Phil started. “If I had known about you, I would have been a father to you. Please believe me.”

Chris met his eyes for the first time that day. “I do.”

Dan joined them just then and sat next to Phil on the couch. The TV was on but no one was really watching it. There was too much to think about.

“What are you guys anyway?” Chris asked, sitting up and gesturing to the way had his legs intertwined with Phil’s.

“We’re getting married in a few months,” Phil told her. "So fiancés?”

“Do you want kids?”

Phil looked at Dan before he answered. “Yeah, we do.”

Chris looked thoughtful for while then she asked, “Phil, what will happen if my mum is sent to prison?”

“I don’t know, Chris. I’m sorry. You have a home here definitely.”

“And what if Jeff gets out?” she asked, eyes not leaving her fingers as she fiddled with them.

“He won’t,” Phil assumed. “We’ll make sure of it.”

Chris stood up from where she was to sit next to Phil. He let his arm cradle her shoulder and hugged her that way. Phil made a vow right then that there was no way he’d let anyone hurt his daughter ever again. With Dan by his side, Phil’s little family was taking shape and he’d do anything to protect them both.

*****

Andrea admitted to allowing Jeff to abuse her child so that they could live a life of luxury. When the man sought her out, she couldn’t see past the money. Although he abused her as well, Andrea made it clear it was her choice to stay and sacrifice her own child to be rich. She blamed Chris for angering her husband and said it was her daughter's fault for not being better. She was sentenced to five years for child endangerment.

Jeff denied everything; the evidence and the photographs of Chris’ battered body. His lawyer contested that there was nothing to prove that it was Jeff and not Andrea who beat the girl. He was sent to prison for a minimum of fifteen years. No one believed him after Christina’s testimony.

Chris still had bad dreams of harsh hands and rough words. Dan liked to make hot chocolate and they’d talk late at night. He always made sure she never woke up to darkness.

Phil took over as her guardian and introduced her to the family she had never known. For the fans, it took a little bit of explaining. Many welcomed Chris happily. Chris never realized how well-known her father and new stepfather were.

Speaking of her stepfather, the wedding was massive. Phil and Dan both walked down the aisle, together. Their colors were blue and silver. Dan’s mother was glad to meet her first granddaughter. Phil’s mother apologized then proceeded to spoil the girl.

Phil’s vlogs often included stories of his family’s adventures while Dan’s comedic sketches now featured an actual girl instead of Dan with socks stuffed down his shirt as makeshift breasts. When a new addition to their family came, Chris was more than happy to babysit for her fathers. After all, she had always wanted a little brother.

And when her mother came back into her life, Chris found it hard to forgive but that was okay, Dan told her. “Just like healing takes time, so does forgiveness.” 

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr  
> [dannihowell](https://danni-howell.tumblr.com/)


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